Blogging: A force to be reckoned with…or not!

The dawn of a new decade has arrived – blogging is here to stay or is it? The introduction of the Internet and World Wide Web has changed the landscape of how we communicate with each other. It has opened opportunities for virtual global communities to congregate in an open uninhibited cyber space, where rules are unwritten and individuals are free from censorship. This landscape has paved the way for the birth of social media – particularly, blogging.

David Meerman Scott, author of “The New Rules of Marketing & PR” defines blogging as, “a personal web site written by someone who is passionate about a topic.” In layman terms – think of blogging as a diary that isn’t really “personal.” It is an outlet for people to voice their feelings into the global vortex known as the World Wide Web. Blogging has increasingly been utilized as a useful tool within the social media arsenal. In fact, companies are now using blogging as a means of communicating with consumers about their products/services in an informal manner aimed at building and maintaining the client relationship. However, blogging also serves a “newsworthy” purpose by updating the masses on “real time” events as they occur in the entertainment, political, social, or health sector. Simply put, if it catches the attention of the blogger, the information is then shared for public dissemination. But blogging is not a new invention – where we say AH HA – that’s it… my life is so much better NOW! NOOOO… blogging is taking a non-traditional approach to our traditional means of communication.

Take for instance the Super Bowl which is a staple in American culture just like Coca Cola. This much hyped event is a critical time for marketers and advertisers to get their messaging out to the masses in information overload one big swoop. Like millions of Americans, I am also caught up in the rapture of Super Bowl XLV (45) sitting here at home typing away on my laptop mania, waiting patiently for the Black Eyed Peas to perform during the half time show. I will admit some of the commercials were obnoxiously funny, serving the purpose of eliciting a smile on my face, and fodder for casual conversations with friends and colleagues.

However, as is customary with Super Bowl, we are graced by the vocal prowess of big name singers who always blesses us with their narcissistic rendition version (right back @ you Sandra Rose – LOL) of the star spangled banner. Needless to say, I was excited about Christina Aguilera unsavory and lackluster performance, which seemed to miss all the apparent bells and whistles, among other things (think: words of the national anthem). Now with traditional communication, I would’ve called a friend or two and unashamedly bashed her performance. But with new media (i.e., Twitter) throngs of people have tweeted their thoughts/insights about her performance, which would not have been possible twenty years ago. In fact, Doug Farrar (a sports writer) wrote a blog entry citing the flaws of her performance and posted it on Yahoo sports for the world to see – talk about rapid response. If you want to read the blog – click on the following link: http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/blog/shutdown_corner/post/Video-Christina-Aguilera-goofs-up-the-National-?urn=nfl-317568.

This is one of many examples in the power of blogging – traditional “print” publications like newspapers and magazines is not capable of producing this instantaneous reaction compared to social media. As a writer and wannabe blogger I am aware of my biases and subjectivity to topics that I am passionate about. But the fact remains that blogging is a powerful tool that can inform, influence, and educate the masses in a manner that surpasses traditional media. As marketers, we need to understand and leverage this tool within our communications, as we strive toward global interconnectivity.

D,
Good luck with the blog. Regarding its staying power as a medium – like many newly emerged concepts it is currently going through a maturing phase. The # of active blogs actually decreased in 2010. People are trying other outlets such as twitter and social networking sites, still trying to understand the best way to reach their audiences.
To me, the blog is a powerful part of the marketing mix because it allows a firm like ours to road-test concepts and get real-time feedback, all while creating a customer experience that gives away intellectual capital for free which should positively impact customer perception.

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